A Hairy Heart
by Legolast
Summary: A tale of a girl who, although overlooked by most people, has been plagued with nightmares of the dark trying to contact her. Will she notice her best friends love for her as he has been so desperate to show? Post Wizarding War - Mix of original existing characters
1. Chapter 1 - Jealousy

Stephanie never liked her hair; it was a dirty blond that increased in brightness as it flowed down messily from her head. She usually just threw it all over her right shoulder and left it at that. She was too lazy to get it cut, or brushed regularly for that matter, so it just hang down to the bottom of her ribcage and often formed large knots which would take several loosening charms and hours of patience to get out.

As she stared into the mirror she studied her face, she didn't have any distinguishing features; her nose was not big nor small, her eyes not too close but neither to separated and her mouth was not big and seductive or small and pouty, she was just her... just Steph. She continued to evaluate her reflection until she felt unnerved by it, just simply how boring she was; she wasn't tall nor thin or have big breasts or a skinny waist.

However, she did have one attractive quality, to him at least. She had caught his attention because one time in potions class, after she had carelessly thrown the horned slugs into the mix before the salamander blood causing her potion to bubble over the top of her cauldron, he had called her 'cute'. She had no idea why, all she was doing was cleaning up the pink foam which had enveloped her table and muttering to herself about the embarrassment, but he had noticed her - and gave her a compliment! She would never forget that, no matter how hard she tried.

He was crazily hot, she thought. He was Jacob Grismai, a Gryffindor, with ruffled sandy hair with copper bits in. He was tanned and muscular, captain of the Quiddich team and was one of the best duellers in his house. The only problem was he was the year above, final year, _and_ would be leaving school early as he already had a place as a beater on the 'Balleycastle Bats' team. As as the professional league of Quiddich starts a few months before the end of the school year, Jacob would be leaving in late April or Mid May. This meant that she only had a couple of months to try and impress him but for now she would stick to admiring him from a safe distance.

She crawled into bed, even though she knew what would await her... the loneliness and then when her eyes finally closed, the terrifying nightmares that came to her.

_Why did her sister have to be so perfect? _Amelia was 21 now and worked for various modelling agencies in the muggle world as well as in the magic, she was perfect, there wasn't a single thing that was wrong with her; her delicate features placed on her face so precisely, her tall thin body with perfect curves and her beautiful crystal blue eyes that seemed to entrance any guy who even looked at her. _why was she so beautiful?_

Then there was her other sister, Anna-Lisa, who was just turning 11 and would be joining Hogwarts in the next school year. Currently she helped her mother and gran in the school nurse and their private heath clinic in the back of their house, she was surprisingly talented at restoration/healing spells, although that branch of magic was already strong in the family, but still, for an eleven year old, she was gifted.

They all had the same parents, they all had blond hair, they were all in Hufflepuff (Undoubtedly Anna-Lisa would be sorted into it) and they were all girls. So why was she so different from her siblings?

Sleep clouded her hatred and she fell asleep, but not to a welcoming, peaceful rest, it was the same as always; the same voice, the same message but always a new horror to scare her. She knew they were only dreams but she still kept them using her dream catcher and every morning she would transfer them to a bottle, stored in a safe with at least sixty others. She hoped one day she could rid herself of them but for now she would have to suffer.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Nightmare

_Steph walked down the dark corridor._

_ 'Here we go again,' she thought to herself. _

_The lights flickered, she was walking down a hospital corridor, there was a dark green tinge to the air and it seemed thick and cold. 'Where are all the nurses?' she wondered as her footsteps padded on the icy floor. Looking down she realised she was barefoot and wearing a hospital gown._

_The lights flickered again. There were double doors at the end of the corridor so Steph kept heading in that direction. Upon passing the windows that lined the corridor, she had the feeling that something was watching her. She didn't dare look and tried to block the feeling out, focusing instead on her path towards the end of the corridor and hopefully the end of the dream._

_The lights flickered again and Steph could have sworn that there was a shadowy figure standing in front of the door._

_The soles of her feet felt wet and when the lights flickered again she saw red - Blood; blood covering the floor, blood trickling down the walls, blood splattered on the inside of the rooms on either side. She felt sick, she knew it wasn't real but it was sickening. _

_She felt the blood rising around her, she kept moving towards the door._

_The blood was around her ankles now, she kept moving._

_It was up to her waist, she kept moving._

_Up to her neck, kept moving._

_Finally as the blood filled her nostrils and enveloped all of her senses, she barged through the door. The redness rapidly drained away and she saw that she was in an operating room. On the table was a body, it was ripped into pieces and all in places the skin had been shredded off, it was red raw. Blood oozed from the pink flesh that had surfaced and thankfully the olive cloth covered the body's face._

_Steph looked around, trying not to look at the monstrosity that lay before her. He glanced left and in the corner of the room stood the shadowy figure. She couldn't make out any features or clothes, it was the outline of a man filled with darkness. When he spoke his mouth was white and he had sharp shadows for teeth which seemed to writhe and reform in his open mouth._

_ 'come to me' the shadow-man whispered._

_She didn't reply out loud but in her thoughts she rejected the offer. Sensing her answer was the same as always the shadow-man opened his mouth wide and screamed, his body expanded into a mass of shadows and launched itself at her. She shadows swarmed her vision and in the twisting, clouded darkness, the shadow-man stood. He was now a silhouette of pure white and when he spoke dark clouds rose from his jagged mouth._

_'I **will **find you Stephanie' He spoke more calmly now, although it was if he didn't have a voice. His words echoed around her head and gave her a head ache. _

_Her vision got brighter and brighter until it collapsed on itself._

**_and then there was darkness._**


	3. Chapter 3 - Thoughts

He was always ignored. Why wasn't he special to anyone?

James pulled on his dressing gown and paced his private bedroom chamber, how he wished he wasn't a Slytherin and instead was a Hufflepuff, then at least he could be near Stephanie. He thought about her every day, her beautiful blond hair and her diamond eyes that glistened in the light. To be honest, it wasn't as if he shouldn't have been in Slytherin; his entire family had been in Slytherin for as long as they could remember and James had the appearance to match; Black hair that fell across the right half of his face and emerald green eyes. He had a white pasty complexion that could use some more sunlight, but living in Darkwood didn't help that at all. Steph had a nice complexion; she wasn't deeply tanned but had a perfect rosiness to her cheeks.

Why did he not like her as much as he liked her? She was flawless, and they got on so well! James even got on well with her family. In fact, Beestone Grotto was like a second home to him, he had felt more at home with the Myeras than he had with his own family, and therefor was a regular visitor, although it was mostly Stephanie he came to see.

Oh how he wished he could be there now; at the Grotto, drinking tea with a warm feeling of love that can't be beaten. No, instead he had to go home to Darkwood Manor, with parents that paid him no attention and not a single teabag to be found. Instead, he had to drink 'Purple Pumpkin juice' or 'Blackworm milk' as his parents insisted on their lives being brooding, gothic and generally over the top, even though, at heart, they were kind people, especially his father and at times his parents could be the softest in the universe! At other times however... well he tried not to think about that.

His parents had, on a few occasions, gone so far that they even tried to invite darkness into the small gothic town of Darkwood but James and Stephanie had managed to talk them out of it. They weren't helped by the fact that James older brother Roger had died in the house but had remained as a poltergeist and hated everything that breathed. Roger constantly beat up James until he had learned some defence against the dark arts spells to repel the non-living.

Stephanie was like a beacon of light when she came to his house, it was if she actually glowed with beauty and James was actually quite embarrassed by the whole town of Darkwood itself and especially the manor where they lived. It was all black and sinister, they even had black candles that burnt with a black or purple flame. All the corridors had black marble floors and the walls were covered in dark grey wallpaper with black flowers on it, although it was so dark you had to squint to tell that there was a pattern there at all!

James bedroom was in complete juxtaposition with the rest of the manor and town, it had sky blue walls and a cream bed and posters of famous quiddich teams; James wasn't the biggest player but him and his dad often watched the game and had been to the world cup every year as long as he could remember.

Morning broke and there wasn't enough time to go back to sleep so James just practiced some transfiguration charms and finished the last page of the essay that was due today about 'harvesting magic-enhancing nutrients from plants for use in potions' as Mr. Golskin was a nightmare on a bad day.

He decided he would find Stephanie today and try to talk about lovey stuff as maybe she'd confess that she'd loved him the whole time and they could finally date. A far fetched fantasy he thought, but it was worth a shot, right?


	4. Chapter 4 - The Encounter

The light poured into the Hufflepuff dormitory as a majestic owl glided through the chilly February sky. The rain gently pattered down on the glass and as it did so a rainbow formed, causing the first years to excitedly scamper to the window, eager to see the colours.

Upstairs, there was a different atmosphere.

Stephanie jerked back into reality, her clothes clung to her body, drenched in sweat, her cheeks were damp with tears and the blankets had been kicked into a pile at the end of the bed. She tore off her sweaty garments and jumped into the shower. She let the hot water run over her body and hoped the steam would clear her thoughts. After her shower she couldn't be bothered to dry herself with a towel so she used her wand to transfer the water from her naked body into a swirling ball which the plopped back into the bath, a handy trick her mum had taught her.

Her wand was nice enough; 11 inches, made of Hazel and with a core of unicorn hair. This was the perfect choice for Stephanie as there had been many times, at her best friend James house, that his parents had tried to get her to perform dark magic; the unicorn hair made it harder to produce dark spells and Hazel wood is famous for reflecting the emotions of the user, and so held true to her reluctance. Hazel wood wands were also supposed to detect water underground and emit silvery, tear drop shaped puffs of smoke when passing concealed springs and wells. So far this ability had not proven useful and only caused embarrassment as sometimes her wand would let out a trial of smoke behind her as she hurried down the corridor.

She hurried down to get some breakfast in the Great Hall while attempting to remove some of the biggest clumps from out of her hair. "Hey Steph!" Came a familiar voice. "Over here!"  
Steph smiled in relief, it was her friend Dana. She really didn't like to stand and search for her friend in the great hall. It made her feel awkward. Out of place. And it really didn't help that everyone seemed to sneer at her.

Dana was cool; they had become friends at the start of the year when Dana has just moved from Africa. She had dark skin and black hair which was shaved at the sides and left a single, but rather fat, braid that rand down the centre of her head to the bottom of her neck. Dana had attended a really rough wizarding school in Africa and so could handle herself in most confrontations, she made Stephanie feel safe; Dana was the strong one, Stephanie the kind one.

"Thanks," Stephanie smiled and started to load up some food on her plate.  
Dana grinned with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Did you see Jacob today? He's so hot!"  
She pretended to feather herself. Steph rolled her eyes at her friends antics. Usually she would feel insecure whenever others spoke of Jacob, because she never felt good enough. However, she knew Dana would never go after him as according to her, Jacob was "soo not her type!"  
Besides; Dana already had her eyes on the scarred Ravenclaw seeker, Brutus Maximus. He was an amazing seeker but unfortunately the rest of the Ravenclaw team preferred to spend time reading and studying, meaning they usually came last in tournaments.

"I haven't actually." Steph replied, returning to the subject, but her reddening face gave away her lie. It had become a habit of hers to always scan every room to check if he happened to be there.  
Dana raised her eyebrow disbelievingly.  
But thankfully she was in a merciful mood and let the subject go.  
"So what do you have first period?" Dana questioned,  
Steph's reply was cut short by a huge yawn  
"Hon, didn't you get some sleep?" Dana asked worriedly. "Have you been having those dreams again?"  
Stephanie smiled sheepishly and nodded.  
Dana had been the only person she'd told, except James and Drew obviously, but she had only told James the true scariness of it all and about the shadow-man.

Drew was Stephanie's older cousin, he was in the last year even though he was 19; he had been kept behind a year in year 4 as he wasn't the smartest. He had light brown hair that was throw back off his head in a sort of 'T-Birds' style. Drew was huge, like ginormous, he was build like a house... a brick wall on legs! In fact the only person in the school that was taller than Drew was Rubius Hagrid respectively, but even that was only a close call and to be fair, Drew was equally as wide, if not wider that Hagrid. He used to be a beater on the school quiddich team until he beat the referee sensless after a dispute. Now he helped Hagrid with the beasts and helped in the 'Defence against the dark arts' department. Drew had hoped to be an Aurora but he had failed the exam and now the incident with the referee had made the opportunity even slimmer.

Dana pursed her lips worriedly. "You can take the day off and rest if you like," She suggested. "Ill let you borrow my notes."  
"They come even in broad daylight," she stated quietly while staring at her buttered toast. "But thanks,"

They ate there breakfast in a hurry as they were rushed for time. Once finished the two of them ran to their first lesson, defence against the dark arts. Stephanie managed a quick peek at the boys in quiddich practise in hope of seeing Jacob but to no avail. They barged through the big double doors into the main classroom, which was more of a hall really; a large square room with a wooden floor and blue tinted windows that let in a lot of light. She saw James looking sheepish and waltz over.

"Hey James!" she said excitedly, eager to talk to her best friend in the whole world. James murmured something that she couldn't interpret. She tried to talk to him again but got the same quiet response.

"I've been trying to talk to him all day!" came a voice from behind her. She recognised that voice... but surely it couldn't be her, could it? Stephanie turned around horrified.

"You..." was all she could manage. Her blood froze and her heart stopped, no it couldn't be her.

There, in front of her, stood Gabriela.


	5. Chapter 5 - Haunted Memories

_Juxville. A remote town that at first glance looked like any other farming town, hidden away in the remoteness of the Yorkshire dales, a small group of four children and a house elf explore the vast fields on holiday and experiment with spells they had learnt during their first year at Hogwarts, bar one who had just finished his 3rd year. _

_This boy had near-shaved black hair and shining gold eyes, he was in Slytherin along with his cousin; a short blond girl with a powerful glance. Thirdly there was a quiet boy who's shoulder length black hair was being blown around by the wind, he too was in Slytherin and his emerald eyes glimmered in the moonlight. Finally there was a shy blond girl who, unlike her friends, had been sorted into Hufflepuff._

_After successfully loosing the house elf, the four cast magic and laugh until they come across a clearing with an injured doe who sits whining, a clear broken leg induced upon it. The long haired boy and the Hufflepuff run over and attempt some basic healing spells their mothers had taught them, but to no avail._

_The older boy however, simply laughed and throwing those two up in the air with a Levicorpus charm, he proceeded to show the others a secret his twisted father had recently revealed to him. He took a step back, brought his wand up ready and whispered the single word 'Crucio.' The Doe screamed out in agony and the other children burst into tears, trying desperately to make him stop. The Doe continued to writhe under the curse whilst the boy chuckled to himself._

_He then summoned his cousin, like a convict is summoned to the courtroom, to demonstrate a spell that would cause the Doe more suffering. Reluctantly she racked her brain for a spell she could use... she couldn't disappoint her cousin and if she disobeyed who knew what he might do to her! With all her might she lifted the doe of the ground and raised it higher and higher until it was way above the tree level, then it dropped. The cold night are was silent as the poor creature tumbled through the air and the only sound that could be heard was when the body hit the stone floor with a sickening thud. The first years were forced to swear to secrecy via the unbreakable vow, no one else but the four children knew about that night.  
Those events changed them for life._

_The younger boys name was **James Whisp**_

_The eldest, **Dreadvok Lucifous**_

_The Hufflepuff, **Stephanie Mayre**_

_and the girl, **Gabriela Wiklund**_


End file.
